


Youtube is Not a Dating Website

by Mini_Megido (Sweet_Spice_Sour_Sugar)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, M/M, YouTubers - Freeform, aradia is fab, arasol - Freeform, bc i rly wanted more arasol, im not a cruel person anymore, might add more characters and pairings, sollux plays video games, theyre all alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-03-21 07:51:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3684120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweet_Spice_Sour_Sugar/pseuds/Mini_Megido
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux Captor is an almost popular youtuber and he comes across Aradia's barely viewed vent vlogs. Slowly, he falls in love with her and wants to meet her, but doesn't know how to not make it creepy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "TwinArmageddons"

"Sup, I'm TwinArmageddons and today I'm playing _Surgeon Simulator_." Sollux lisped boredly into his mic, clicking play and watching the beginning of the game. "So, this game has been recommended to me so many fucking times, I can't believe I'm playing it."

It took only a few minutes for him to get frustrated with the game, his inability to make a precision cut and the constant throwing of things. He was swearing into the microphone, cursing the game to hell and back, all while occasionally stroking his nonexistent beard. Then the young Korean man would smile into the camera charmingly and say, "I would look much more intellectual with a beard, don't you think?" Unfortunately, he had to stay clean shaven. For the fans.

Finally, after twenty minutes of mindlessly dicking around on _Surgeon Simulator_ , Sollux quit the game. He smirked into the camera and said, "worst fucking game ever. I'm TwinArmageddons. If you liked this video, don't forget to say so by clicking like, comment and subscribe. Recommend it to your friends if you have to. TA out." Finally, he winked into his camera and signed off. He did some editing and left it to upload. Good. One more video done this week. Now he was almost at one million subscribers.

He was _almost_ a success.

In a rare moment, Sollux Captor actually left his room. His black hair was scruffy and unkempt, and as he ran a hand through it, it became even more messy. He was wearing the same black shirt he had been wearing two days ago, and he was only wearing pajama pants. He grabbed an energy drink and then sat to read messages off his phone. He was so famous, he had two messages. They were both from the same person too.

Karkat Vantas (carcinogeneticist@googlemail.com)  
ASSHOLE. GET OFF YOUR BRUISED ASS AND MEET ME AT STARBUCKS IN TWENTY-TWO MINUTES.

Karkat Vantas (carcinogeneticist@googlemail.com)  
AT LEAST I INDULGED IN YOUR DISGUSTING BIFURCAL FETISH. YOU'VE WASTED TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES OF MY *PRECIOUS* TIME. HURRY UP BEFORE I KICK YOUR ASS.

Holy shit. He had two minutes to make himself presentable and get to Starbucks to see what Karkat wanted. If Sollux wasn't so stubborn and sure of himself, he probably would have asked for an extra twenty minutes. But then Karkat would have the satisfaction! Sollux was not about to let him win their one-upmanship.

So he left his energy drink on the counter and ran to his room to choose something that didn't smell like sweat or honey, and then he ran to the shower. Taking what had to be a new record, Sollux ran out (and almost slipped) of the the shower and got dressed. He threw on different shoes without looking, and his red and blue glasses he couldn't even see out of anyway, and hurried to get to Starbucks.

He stuck his phone, wallet and keys into the back pocket of his skinny jeans and ran. He just managed to get to Starbucks as Karkat was leaving to come kick his ass.

"For fucks sake." Karkat muttered, crossing his arms and glaring up at Sollux when he ruffled the shorter man's hair. He returned to his table as Sollux went to order an overly expensive latte before joining Karkat and Terezi at their table.

Karkat was short with badly cut hair and a temper to match. He wore a black sweater and sweat pants, with bags under his brown eyes due to his sleepless nights worse than Sollux's. He had a hoarse voice from shouting at people that his family had a better heritage than most people had respect. After all, he was Native American. He had snake bites and liked to think he was punk rock, but everyone knew better.

Terezi Pyrope was the opposite of Karkat. For one thing, she was German. She had blonde hair that was cut neatly into a bob and wore a sweater vest and slacks that looked good with her red glasses. Despite the clean cut image that looked good on law resumès, Terezi was anything but clean cut. In fact, at that moment, she was licking Karkat's face in an attempt to piss him off.

Sollux sat across the table from the couple and sipped his honey and lemon latte. It tasted terrible despite costing six dollars, but he drank it anyway. He paid for it after all. Karkat looked like he was trying his best not to push Terezi off her chair. Eventually, the blind girl looked at Sollux and smiled a strangely sharp grin.

"So, Sollux." She drawled, leaning across the table as if she were an interrogator. "How was your date with Feferi? Did you do anything fun?" She made a lewd gesture with her hands that made Sollux and Karkat cringe when parents looked at them disappointedly.

"Ugh. Put that away, TZ." Sollux scowled at the gesture. "No, TZ. We didn't get anywhere. I took her to dinner, listened to her talk about fish and her marine biology major, and then I went home to code." Don't get him wrong, Feferi was a very pretty girl, but he felt she wasn't his type. So he just took her home and thanked her for her night.

Terezi seemed disappointed and regarded Sollux as so while Karkat rolled his eyes and pushed her off her chair, letting her land with a thud. He leaned towards Sollux and shout whispered, "we set you up with her so you wouldn't go home and code. But you did just fucking that! Honestly, Sollux. You're going to be single and a virgin forever."

"Okay, first of all, I'm not a virgin. I lost my virginity before you did. I banged your stepsister." 

"You leave Nepeta out of this! She's happier now with her girlfriend."

"And! I'm not going to stay single forever." He finished, crossing his arms.

"You are if you go home and code after every fucking date you have, and then make your shitty youtube videos." Karkat pointed out, and then got annoyed when Sollux just shrugged. "I'm serious! Not many girls or guys like coders."

Yet again, Sollux just shrugged. He didn't care. Right now, his life was his videos, his codes and his attempts at gaining a computer science degree. Romance was the last thing on his mind. "So what if no one likes coding? If my videos get enough views each week, I'll be able to pay for a girlfriend. I'm already making enough to pay for an apartment, so you can just fuck off, KK."

He stood up and unceremoniously flipped the two off. It felt good doing that until he walked straight into the pull door of the shop. When he had finally stopped being embarrassed, he saluted Terezi and Karkat and walked away.

At his apartment, he grabbed a bag of cheetos and retired to his room to make some more commissioned codes. As well as his videos, people paid handsomely for a well crafted virus or program they could unleash on the world. This is what keeps his life going. Without coding, he would be nothing. He's done a few 'how to code' videos, but they aren't as popular as his gaming videos.

Which reminded him, he should probably check the progress of his latest video. His fangirls would love that wink at the end.

Sure enough, there were comments from girls who loved his wink. It made him grin when they wanted the wink to become a thing at the end of each video. He made a mental note to do so as he leaned back and stretched his long arms. Then his eyes behind his blue and red glasses wandered to his video recommendations.

There was one titled "My First Ever Video!"

There was a girl in it, and she seemed very cheerful. The video only had a couple hundred views, so Sollux clicked on it to watch it.

The video was only a couple of minutes long, and it started out blurry. He could hear someone fiddling with the camera, and then the girl came into focus. She was sitting in a dorm room at a university, obviously on a bed because she sat so lowly. Her red painted lips were pursed but her brown eyes were bright and thoughtful as she adjusted the camera. Her brown hair was a mess, but it framed her round, pale face and chubby cheeks perfectly. When she finally was satisfied with the camera, she smiled.

It was that smile that melted Sollux's heart. It was so cheerful, so full of life. It made someone wish they knew this girl.

When she spoke, she spoke with a hint of a Canadian accent, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where she was from. It was like she was a bunch of different ethnicities.

"Uh, hi?" She began nervously, then she laughed clearly. "I'm ApocalypseArisen. This is my first video. I'm sorry if my ineptitude with technology has annoyed anyone. I don't know anyone who's good with technology."

"I guess I'm making this video because my therapist told me to?" She shrugged, but then she smiled wider, showing off white teeth. "I've set myself a challenge. No matter what, I'm going to make a video every day of the year. I don't care if no one sees it. It's just a way to vent my feelings, I guess."

"These videos will most likely be me talking about the things I like, such as archaeology, history, Welcome To Night Vale and dead things. On the chance encounter that someone sees this, leave some questions in the comments below and I'll answer them in my next video! So, uh, bye for now!" 

The video ends there, barely two minutes long.

Sollux immediately went to her channel, noticing she had made another thirty videos and only had three subscribers. Now she had four, as he clicked subscribe himself. It was a months worth of videos, now she only had another eleven months to go before her challenge was done. Sollux had thirty videos worth of watching a beautiful girl ramble at a camera.

So he clicked on her next video and pressed play.


	2. "Hi, ApocalypseArisen Here"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I'd post chapter 2 today as well! Hopefully I'll post chapter three tomorrow. Sollux might get a glimpse of Aradia at Starbucks or something.

Being jostled through a library wasn’t fun at high school, and it certainly wasn’t fun at university either. Aradia Megido was almost pushed onto the librarian’s desk as she tried to issue out a book for her history paper on how people viewed World War Two and the Holocaust. She was studying children, so naturally she chose the book The Boy in Striped Pajamas to go off. It should be able to give her a little bit of insight, even as a secondary source.

And it should rip out her heart at the same time. Ah, yes, this book was so depressing (she had even seen the film) and she hated that the poor boy just didn’t understand why they were all in striped uniforms. It’ll be fantastic! Now, to get back to her dorm room before some jerk decided to look up her skirt. When she arrived at her dorm room, Tavros was sitting in front of her door. His brown mohawk was a mess, and he was still in his work clothes. She supposed he was ready to take her out shopping like they always planned to do. He had style after all.

He looked up at Aradia when she came near, and he smiled sheepishly while she put her hands on her hips. She wasn’t impressed. “Tavros. I thought I gave you the spare key to my room?”

“You did, Aradia. But Vriska, she took it away.” He sighed sadly and looked down at his hands. It was kind of pathetic, really. But Aradia wouldn’t be his best and childhood friend if she didn’t pity the poor boy. She had given him the spare key for a number of reasons. Just in case Aradia needed help, or was locked in her room. Or if Tavros needed a place to crash. Vriska had even agreed to this! She was just using her ability to step on Tavros’s low self esteem.

The Brazilian boy looked up at Aradia with big eyes, worried about what she might do, but she just ruffled his hair and messed it up even more while she unlocked her door. Trust Vriska to lock it and kick Tavros out.

Their room was a mess. Mostly Vriska’s mess since Aradia didn’t own many clothes, which was why Tavros was going to take her shopping. They were going to meet Feferi and Gamzee there too, and maybe get iced chocolate. It had been a while since she had had any fun, a while since she began her job.

Vriska herself was lounging on her bed, flicking through a magazine Aradia was sure her religion didn’t approve of, but since when did Vriska care? The only time Vriska cared was when people mistakenly served her beef, but Aradia understood that. Vriska was a vegetarian after all. Her blonde hair was spread out on her pillow, and her long legs were crossed over each other. She only bothered to look at Tavros and Aradia when Aradia sat on Vriska’s bed and held out her hand.

The girl’s blue eyes slid down Aradia’s body and she smirked. “What? I was going to give the key to Terezi. I feel safer if she has it.” She pulled the key out of her pocket and handed it to Aradia, who handed it back to Tavros.

“You agreed that Tavros could have it. And pardon me, but I think that he is much more trustworthy than Terezi.” She liked Terezi, of course, but she wouldn’t trust her to try and pull her out of a burning room if Vriska set it. Aradia threw her book onto the bed and grabbed her bag. “Come on Tavros.” 

She was at the door and she turned around to beckon Tavros when she saw Vriska sitting up and staring at them with wide eyes. Tavros was looking sorry and smiling sheepishly again while Vriska had her hand on his arm. “Come on.”

“Can I come?” Vriska asked, eyes wide and a grip on Tavros’s arm. “Please? Feferi’s gonna be there too isn’t she?” Aradia took a deep breath and nodded, and Vriska grinned, her blue lips stretching from ear to ear. “I’m coming.”

She got up and followed the other two out to Tavros’s car, and they drove to the strip mall down the road from their university. It was further into the small city and easy to get around despite all the apartment blocks and high rises. They parked on the side of the street and went to join Feferi Peixes and Gamzee Makara before they went into the shops. 

Gamzee Makara was very, very tall, and very slim. However, he was built quite strongly as well, and he was a great basketball player. He didn’t play anymore though, and fell into the worse stereotypes of his race: drugs. He wasn’t doing hard drugs, but he was usually a little out of it due to smoking weed. Aradia didn’t really mind unless he willingly bothered her about it.

Feferi Peixes was also quite tall, and she gave Aradia and Vriska huge hugs when they arrived. “Oh my goodness, we are going to get you the CUTEST clothes! I promise!” She took Aradia’s hand and pulled her to the closest shop. Feferi had long red hair, and a slim, muscular body. Unlike Aradia, who hated the sun, she loved the sun and her bronze skin obviously showed it.

Gamzee, Tavros and Vriska followed patiently behind, and Aradia could feel Vriska’s eyes boring a hole into the poor girl’s head. She turned and smiled apologetically at Vriska, and then she was ushered into a store that was far too bubblegum pink for her. She didn’t want to insult Feferi though, so she just tried on every dress and item of clothing that Feferi thought looked good on her. When Aradia finally bought one dress (a red one she might wear on a date, with thin straps and a zip at the back that would be easy to remove if need be) they were able to leave the store. 

This time Vriska showed her a store that she frequented, one that was dark and edgy and punk rock. Except Aradia was shown all the skinny jeans they had there, which she kind of didn’t want to wear. Finally, with Tavros’s help, she chose a couple of pairs of shorts and a few more blouses. (“Boring.” Vriska had told her, and then she scowled when Feferi grabbed Aradia’s hand and pulled her towards the cafeteria of the strip mall.)

While Aradia and Feferi sat at a cafe, having ordered coffee and sandwiches, Vriska, Tavros and Gamzee all walked off to Taco Bell. Aradia and Feferi knew Vriska wasn’t going to order anything; she was just going to annoy Tavros.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Feferi nudged Aradia with her arm. “Do you want to hear about my date last night? The one Terezi and Karkat set up for me?”

She shrugged and nodded, her smile widening. “Sure! How was it? You’d never met the guy before, right?”

“Nope.” Feferi giggled, a manicured hand shielding her already perfect smile. “He was so sweet! But he let me talk all night and I never got to know his name. I only agreed because it would get Karkat off my back for breaking up with Eridan.”

Aradia nodded solemnly, but she really wasn’t interested in hearing Feferi groan about her ex boyfriend, Eridan. So far, he was off in Italy doing a study on how World War Two affected there. She was glad he was out of class.

“Anyway, I’m not really interested in him, or guys for that matter. I’m interested… In someone else.” Feferi looked over towards where Vriska was standing in front of Taco Bell, seemingly annoying Tavros by teasing him with the key to Aradia’s dorm room.

“Vriska?” Aradia asked, looking to where Feferi was gazing like a lovestruck teenager. “Or Tavros?”

“Oh, no, not Tavros.” She giggled again, blue eyes fluttering. “ _Vriska_ ”

Aradia frowned a little and looked over to Vriska, who had pushed Tavros over and was now laughing at him. How could anyone on Earth, let alone anyone as sweet and bubbly as Feferi, like Vriska?

“Vriska?” Aradia asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Feferi got a little annoyed at the question, “of course I like Vriska. Just because she’s mean to you doesn’t mean she’s a beach to everyone else!”

She had to go with the fish puns. Aradia rolled her eyes and sighed, “I know that! But it’s just surprising to hear you say that! I thought you would like someone nicer.”

“She is nice!” Feferi crossed her arms and sat back in her seat, pouting her pink lips. “And she’s cute, and squishy and she has a beautiful laugh.”

Aradia shrugged as Vriska, Tavros and Gamzee started coming back towards the cafe, Vriska staying a considerable distance away from Gamzee who was eating a beef taco. Feferi gasped and looked to Aradia, eyes wide. “Please don’t tell Vriska anything I said! What… What if she doesn’t like me back?”

Oh, Aradia was pretty sure Vriska liked Feferi back. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell.”

Their other friends sat around their table, and while Aradia and Feferi sipped on their lattes (both of which only cost three dollars) Vriska ranted at Gamzee for choosing beef and throwing it at her. Aradia could understand that. No one wanted gross Taco Bell meat on their clothing, whether it was beef or not. (“Don’t you understand that cows are sacred to my religion you stupid square!” was the best thing Vriska yelled at Gamzee that day.)

When they were done and walking back to their cars, Aradia pulled Feferi aside and said to her, “don’t be scared of asking her out on a date. If you wanted, I could find a date and we could go on a double date! Or you could get Karkat and Terezi, they wouldn’t mind.” It warmed her heart to see the hope and excitement on Feferi’s face, especially when she hugged her tight. 

“Okay, Aradia.” Feferi waved to her as she went back to her car, and Aradia went to Tavros’s. This time she ignored Vriska’s jealous glares until they got back to their dorm.

Aradia set up her camera and sat down on her bed teasing her hair a little to make it more presentable. She glanced at Vriska and Tavros, who were sitting on Vriska’s bed. “Are you guys going to just sit there or?”

Tavros got up and shrugged, “I’m going, to go to the cafeteria, to see what they’re having for dinner.” He glanced down at Vriska, who was already comfortable. She groaned loudly.

“Fine! I’ll go, if only to yell at the cooks to make something vegetarian tonight.” She rolled off her bed and landed with a thud, and groaned again. Tavros helped her up and ushered her outside.

With a curt nod, Aradia shut the door and went to check her youtube channel. She was a little surprised to find that she had gained one extra subscriber from three. She already knew who the other three were: Tavros, her sister Damara, and her therapist, Dr. Lalonde. The fourth one, well, they were a mystery.

Aradia took a deep breath and turned on her camera, ready to make a new video. She still didn’t have any questions, but that’s fine. She can work with it.

“Hi, everyone!” She said cheerfully and waved at the camera. “Me, again. I had a fantastic day today! We went shopping and drank coffee and did friend things. Now that’s out of the way, it’s time to talk about everyone’s favourite topic! Death!”

She paused for dramatic effect, and then she started laughing. “I’m joking. Although death isn’t as scary as most people would think, it’s not really something to introduce in my thirty second video. Maybe in my sixty fourth video? Who knows, but I’m not going to talk about it yet.”

Aradia talked about her paper instead, one that asked for the perspective of German and Jewish children in World War Two, and Aradia held up the copy of The Boy in Striped Pajamas she had to read. “This is a really good book. It’ll tear your heart out and make you sob for _days._ Trust me. This goes to show that death really isn’t that good, and you should always, always listen to history.”

“So, anyway, I think that’s enough rambling for me today! I’m ApocalypseArisen and… It’s always good when good things happen, including death, which is also good.” She laughed. “Good night!”

She stopped the recording and uploaded it to youtube, and left it for a while. When she came back from dinner to study, she was surprised to find a comment on it from someone called TwinArmageddons. 

TwinArmageddons (posted two hours ago)  
Hey. This is a really good video. I haven’t read The Boy in Striped Pajamas, but I’ve seen the film and it’s just as bad. You’re really pretty, by the way.

Aradia was left blushing that entire night. Someone thought she was pretty.


	3. They meet. Kind of.

It was a day Sollux didn’t really enjoy: shopping day.

You see, he didn’t really enjoy it due to the fact that most clothing at the strip mall was either too short, too tight or too baggy for him. He preferred to order it online, but since Karkat was having none of that, he was being dragged to some store he didn’t even fit in. Actually, despite Karkat’s seemingly caring demeanour, he looked like he suited this punk rock shop he had dragged Sollux into.

Sollux leaned against the wall as Karkat looked through the clothing racks, and chuckling whenever he refused any clothing Karkat showed him, as the shorter man would grumble angrily under his breath about Sollux’s lack of style. So what if he only liked to wear skinny jeans and polo shirts. At least he looked good in them, and he was sure that was all that mattered.

His mind wandered and he looked out the window at the front of the shop, at the cars passing by and the other shops across the road. Students from the university campus nearby always came here to have lunch and go shopping. Sollux and Karkat both also attended the university, but they barely took any classes so they didn’t have to live on campus.

Some of the girls were really cute. Honestly, though, they weren’t as cute as ApocalypseArisen, who Sollux was now convinced was his soulmate. He wasn’t going to tell anyone who she was, because he felt that by watching her videos and being the only person to comment on them made their nonexistent relationship more special. He occasionally glanced Feferi, the girl he had taken on a date before, and Karkat’s former best friend, Gamzee Makara. He knew he would never get to meet ApocalypseArisen though; she probably lived in Canada, where her accent was from.

Sollux’s eyes were starting to close from a late night playing video games. He was trying to find a good one to play for his next video, which meant going through so many suggestions. Maybe he could just do a _Minecraft_ tutorial, show them how to build a giant bee. That would be fun, and kind of ironic since he was allergic to bee stings. Maybe he’ll get some people into _Minecraft_.

He actually couldn’t wait until ApocalypseArisen’s next video. It had been three days since he discovered her, and she had posted two new videos. Her last one she had talked about how the Anthropology department at her university should teach at least a little bit about Africa. (“All that lost history! It could be so exciting!”) And she spoke about how she wanted to be an archaeologist, and told a cute little story about how she used to have excavation plots in her backyard and even found a rabbit skeleton at one point.

Her voice was so soothing, especially for Sollux. Ever since he was little, he suffered from chronic migraines. He had the strongest painkillers just in case they hit again, but so far they hadn’t. However, her soothing voice might be keeping them away as well, which made him want to listen to her more!

Sollux was a little busy dreaming about what she would be like if he ever met her when Karkat threw something at him. “Hey, asshole! Are you even listening?” 

“Hm?” Sollux looked at Karkat, who had his arms crossed over his chest. “What did you want?” There was a jacket at his feet, crumpled up from being thrown. When Sollux picked it up, he noticed that it looked kind of like a biker’s jacket.

“I was telling you to try the fucking jacket on.” Karkat snapped, and then he grabbed a shirt and thrust it into Sollux’s arms. It was a button up, and it was yellow. Not bad. “Take that as well. It’ll make you not look like my goddamn dad.”

Sollux held the shirt up and smirked. “Alright son. I’ll get the shirt. It looks nice.” He walked past Karkat and ruffled his hair, narrowly avoiding getting his arse kicked as he went. He spotted another pair of black skinny jeans, and grabbed them. You can never have enough pairs skinny jeans.

When he had paid for the clothing, they left the store and walked down to the cafe near it. To block out Karkat’s angry ranting about how Sollux was _not_ his father, he glanced around the strip mall and pulled his phone out of his pocket to see if ApocalypseArisen had made another video yet. She hadn’t. He felt stupid, of course she hadn’t made a video yet! She might be asleep or in class or doing whatever it is Canadians do.

While he and Karkat were waiting for their coffee and muffins, Vriska Serket and Feferi Peixes decided to sit near them. Feferi waved at them cheerfully and Vriska flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked at them. God, Sollux _hated_ Vriska. And so did most people that had a brain.

They ignored the girls, but still listened in on their conversation. It was boring, considering they were discussing whatever their majors were. (“Is marketing hard?” Feferi asked Vriska with wide eyes, who responded, “not really if you know what the people like.”)

When their coffees were brought to them, there were three. Sollux raised an eyebrow and nudged Karkat, who shrugged. “Maybe they’re expecting Tavros. Sounds like something they would do.” He was a bit busy focusing on his own coffee and his chocolate muffin.

He frowned and bit into his honey muffin. Whoever it was, they seemed to like cinnamon dusted brownies. Sollux leaned in to listen to their conversation to see if they were discussing their mystery third companion.

“Where did she go?” Vriska asked, huffing softly. “I thought she was right behind us when we ordered.”

“She was!” Feferi insisted, nodding quickly, her curls bouncing around her shoulders. “I think she went to the bathroom. Her father is having issues with her sister at home, so she had to take the phone call.”

“Mr. Droog is always having issues with that bitch.” Vriska hissed, “I don’t see why Aradia cares so much about her sister. You’ll remember Damara almost killed your sister.”

“I know that!” Feferi said flippantly, rolling her eyes, “but I don’t like my sister either! Even so, I would still be upset if something like _that_ happened to my sister.”

The two girls quietened down and looked over towards the bathroom, where their third companion was coming from. Sollux’s eyes followed their gaze, and he almost choked on his pretentious honey muffin.

It was her.

ApocalypseArisen was in the same cafe he was in, and she seemed prettier when she wasn’t behind or on a screen. Her hair looked fluffier; her cheeks were chubbier; she looked like she was half his height, so he would be able to lean on her when she hugged him and he would be able to pick her up whenever he wanted. She was chubby, but not too chubby. In fact, she was mostly curves! And Sollux wanted nothing more but to pull her into a hug and kiss her plump lips.

Of course though, that wasn’t going to happen. That would be creepy.

Sollux nudged Karkat and whispered to him, “KK, what’s that girl’s name?”

Karkat glanced up from his phone and frowned, “I don’t fucking know? One of Vriska’s creepy friends? I think that’s the one with the death obsession.”

Sollux blinked and glanced over in her direction, and then he tried to listen in on their conversation to gain at least a snippet of the conversation. It seemed they had gotten over discussing whatever it was that they were discussing before.

“How’s that cinnamon brownie taste, Aradia? I picked it especially for you!” Feferi said in a forced cheerful way. “I thought you would like it.”

“It’s very nice.” Aradia said in that soothing voice Sollux loved so much. She looked so tired though. “And it’s just a chocolate brownie, Feferi. It just has cinnamon dust on it.”

“It said cinnamon bun on the sign though.” Feferi murmured, biting into her cheesecake. Vriska was watching Feferi from across the table, and her hand seemed to be creeping towards Feferi’s.

Sollux was watching Aradia, but he wasn’t prepared when she actually looked up from her brownie and looked straight at him. He could feel his face turning red with just one glance from her glowing brown eyes, and he had to look away. When he looked back, she was still watching him, but she was blushing too.

She smiled sweetly at him and looked back to her brownie and seemed to tune in to whatever outrageous story Vriska was now telling. Her smile, like it did when he first saw it on her youtube video, made his heart melt and beat faster than it normally could. The bees that he was allergic to were buzzing around in his stomach. God, she was beautiful.

He looked away when Karkat nudged his arm, and jumped when he saw Karkat’s expression. It was one that said, ‘I-know-how-you-feel-about-that-girl-and-I’m-going-to-get-a-date-with-her-for-you.’ It was an expression that terrified Sollux.

He had to pull Karkat out of the cafe before he had a chance to go and talk to Aradia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I am going to thank tumblr user 100d-disdain for kind of giving me inspiration for this (she was the one that suggested it after all!!) So yeah!


	4. Set The Date

When she returned to her dorm, she was glad that Vriska chose to go and hang out in Feferi’s room. (Sure, Nepeta and Jade wouldn’t like it, but they’ll survive) because right now, Aradia needs some alone time. She wasn’t even sure if she was going to get a video posted tonight, then that’s her entire challenge gone. She was sure Dr. Lalonde would understand though if she skipped it.

Aradia spent most of that afternoon picking up after Vriska, throwing all of her laundry into a laundry bag and pushing it into her closet. She made her bed and righted all the things on her desk (goodness knows why they were like that in the first place) and sorted out Vriska’s homework. Sometimes Aradia felt like she was Vriska’s mother.

She sat down on her own bed and took a deep breath. She had not gotten some pleasant news today. Her sister Damara was in hospital, all the way in Boston at the other side of the country, due to a drug overdose. She was in a coma, and expected to survive, but things were looking grim.

She flopped back onto her pillows unceremoniously and sighed. Her hair was spread out on her pillow (with Indiana Jones’s face on it) and she was lying in a star shape on her bedspread (which also had Indiana Jones’s face on it). When she closed her eyes, she immediately opened them again because she thought of that really attractive nerd staring at her in the cafe. 

His blush when she caught him made her laugh, and she was still picturing it in the car ride back to campus. A smile formed on her face as she thought about it, and she started giggling again. He looked really shocked to be noticed!

She had asked Feferi during the car ride, “who were the two boys sitting at the table next to us?” Since Feferi knew everyone, there was a good point to ask.

“Hm? Oh! Well, the short one is Karkat Vantas, Terezi’s boyfriend. And the other one was Sollux.” She had smiled at Aradia. “I saw you staring at Sollux. Do you like him? Is this a case of love at first sight?”

Aradia hadn’t answered her for the entire car ride.

But the more she thought about it, the more it definitely seemed like it was love at first sight. He seemed to like her too, considering he almost ran out of the shop when Karkat came over to try and talk to her. Aradia now wished she had gotten his number.

In a burst of energy, Aradia went and got her camera, and she set it up. It seemed she was going to do a video after all. She sat down on her bed and turned it on.

“Hey, everyone! I’m ApocalypseArisen and today’s video is going to be really short. Okay, I met this guy in the cafe my friends and I frequent, and he was really cute!” She beamed and took a deep breath. That sentence was so hard to say. “Like, he was Korean, definitely Korean. He wore a polo shirt and skinny jeans that kind of made him look like a dad, and he was really tall. Now, I’m only 5’1” and this guy is definitely 6’0” or 6’1”. An entire foot taller than me! And he was watching me and he was blushing and I was blushing and oh my goodness!”

Aradia put her face in her hands and laughed. Gosh, this emotion was overwhelming. After the news she got today, it was nice to feel happy. She looked back up at the camera and beamed, “if he’s watching this video right now, I want to meet him in the same cafe that we sort of not really met in today! Sorry to TwinArmageddons who commented on my thirty-second video and said I was pretty. I guess I’m going to kind of be taken after this.”

She laughed happily and took a deep breath. Then she looked back at the camera calmly. Her eyes were still shining though, “so, on Saturday, I want to meet you at lunch time; I don’t have class then and I’m sure my friend -I’ll just call her CuttlefishCuller for now- will tell you about this video if she finds it.”

Aradia’s smile widened a little more, and she finally finished with, “I’m ApocalypseArisen, and this is my thirty third video. Thanks for watching!” She stopped the recording and uploaded it to youtube. Who knew how long it would take until someone found it. How long it would take until he found it.

She flopped back onto her bed after uploading it and took a deep, happy breath. What a tiring day. Aradia couldn’t help but fall asleep, so her eyes fluttered shut and she curled up. Nap time.

***~***

There was a ringing in the background of Aradia’s dream, and she hated it. She groaned softly and sat up, struggling to open her eyes. After all, when you’ve had a great sleep like that, why would you want to wake up?

When she finally opened her eyes, she noticed that Vriska wasn’t back yet. Or maybe she was? Some of her clothes were on the floor again. For goodness sake. Doesn’t that girl understand that no one wants to see her bras and panties all over the floor?

She grappled for her phone and answered it, a tired “hello” into the microphone was greeted with an urgent, “why were you not answering your phone, Aradia?”

“Oh, hello Dad.” She groaned, stretching. “A simple hello would be fine.”

“I’ve been trying to contact you for the past ten minutes Aradia! Hello is not fine considering what I’ve been told.” He sounded angry and upset, but with Mr. Droog, that was hard to tell sometimes.

“Is it something to do with Damara?” She asked, frowning. “Is she okay? Were the doctors able to revive her?”

“Oh, they revived her all right.” He grumbled sarcastically. “They revived her and then they put her into a bloody coma!”

That shocked Aradia awake. She could barely accept it. She pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at it, then she answered him, “what do you mean they put her into a coma? I thought they were trying to reverse it!”

“They were, but it’s too difficult.” He took a deep breath, and it sounded like he was choking on tears. “Aradia, they don’t think Damara’s going to make it.”

“What?!” She felt tears gathering in her eyes, “but, she has to! She still has so much to live for.” During the summer, Aradia and Damara were planning on going to Japan together. She has to be around for that. Aradia can’t even speak Japanese!

She heard her father sighing and she bit her lip. In the end, he was the one that had the final decision on what to do. But they had to consider that this had happened before, and Damara had been okay. “Alright. We’ll see what happens.” 

Aradia took a deep breath and smiled a little, then she sniffled. There were tears trailing down her face. She wiped them away and whispered into the phone, “thanks Dad. You’re the best. I’m sure she will be okay by summer.”

“Alright. How’s school, Aradia? How’s your challenge thing?” 

They spent the rest of the night talking about Aradia’s school work, and how she was getting on with her videos. When they finally stopped talking, she felt worse than she had felt when she had made that video. What if she doesn’t even go to the cafe on Saturday?

Aradia curled up on her bed and closed her eyes, but images of Damara in bed were haunting her. She didn’t get anymore sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was advised to tug on people's heartstrings by my friend and i decided to go through with it! Next chapter should be uploaded later today when I finish it.


	5. They Actually Meet, Those Nerds

Oh shit.

Ohhh shit.

She wanted to meet him.

Aradia, also known as Apocalypse Arisen, wanted to meet him in the same cafe they had met in that lunch time. Sollux Captor felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Instead, he turned on some music and danced around his room. He was able to meet her. He could ask her on a date.

He could embarrass himself in front of her to the point of no return and then he would have to be a hermit for the rest of his life. Sollux switched off the music and sat down in his seat, putting his head in his hands. It could very easily go like that. He was that socially awkward with cute girls that he imagined in his head, he could very easily be worse.

He replayed the video of her describing him, the one she had recently posted, and felt a warmth in his chest. She liked him. After taking one look at his ugly mug, Aradia liked him. He sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. And then a huge grin spread on his face and he looked at the video of her, paused on the moment she smiled at the camera her widest. She really was beautiful.

He had to plan for this date. This… Sort of date. It was really just a meeting. And they were going to the same cafe they had met at. He could wear that button up Karkat made him get, and maybe that jacket. Except it doesn’t seem like she likes nerds. He can’t really tell.

Right now, he was really hungry. He was amazed she hadn’t gone and looked at his videos and noticed that TwinArmageddons was _him_. Then again, it wasn’t really a surprise. Maybe she just didn’t have enough time. Maybe she just didn’t like gaming videos. She seemed to like history a lot.

He was going to get her phone number one way or another, that might happen. Then he would be able to contact her instead of it being some weird thing where they only contact each other through friends or youtube. Maybe he could ask her out on a date. She liked dead things, he could take her to the cemetery. Actually, no. That’s a lame date idea, Sollux. Maybe a museum instead. She was studying history after all.

Despite Saturday being a couple of days away, Sollux wanted to be ready. He took the clothing he planned to wear (even mismatched shoes to look different) and put them on the sofa in his living room. That way they probably wouldn’t get stained or wrinkled or anything. He never sat on that sofa anyway.

He made sure he had enough money to get him through the next couple of days and to pay for whatever Aradia wanted from the cafe, and then he called Karkat for advice.

“So you actually got a date? By yourself?” He could tell Karkat was trying not to laugh, “I can’t believe it. I thought you fucking said romance was the last thing on your mind.”

“Fuck off, KK.” Sollux huffed, lying down on his bed and grumbling in annoyance. This was not helping. “I need to know what to do to impress a girl like Aradia.”

“To impress a girl like Aradia,” Karkat began, and then he unexpectedly yelled into the phone, “you can stop trying to plan something so fucking obsessively, douchepants!”

“Rude.” Sollux scowled, “what’s wrong with a little planning?”

“Everything! From what I know about Aradia, and a lot of it could be wrong because it’s from Vriska’s bitchy mouth, she does things on a whim.” He sighed into the phone, “just… Whatever you’re planning, stop. Stop fucking planning and just go with whatever your gut tells you.”

When Sollux finally got off the phone to Karkat, any thoughts of planning were gone. So Aradia seemed to like spontaneity? Alright then, he could work with that.

He was still going to wear the outfit he had planned though.

***~***

Saturday arrived, and Sollux almost had a heart attack when he woke up a lot later than he had expected to. A late night coding, he had fallen asleep at his computer and a whole bunch of numbers and letters, and it would take forever for him to find his place again. He was just about to start when he realised it was eleven am and he had an hour to get dressed and to the cafe he had met Aradia at before.

He ran around his apartment madly, putting on his planned outfit and trying to find his shoes. His hair was a mess and he couldn’t be bothered fixing it as he grabbed his wallet, phone and keys. He drove to the strip mall, and took forever to find a car park since apparently everyone wanted to go to the strip mall on Saturdays.

It was ten past twelve by the time he found a car parking space and got to the cafe. Luckily for him, though, Aradia didn’t seem to be there yet. He took the opportunity to order two lattes and two honey muffins. Maybe she would like honey muffins.

He found a place to sit that allowed him to watch the door as people came and went. He put his hand over his mouth as he stared at the door, waiting for that one glimpse of Aradia, that one glance of her so that he could invite her over and introduce herself.

She still hadn’t arrived by the time the coffees and muffins were brought to him.

She still hadn’t arrived when he had finished his coffee and hers had gone cold.

It was almost ten past one, and Sollux felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe she wasn’t going to show up. Maybe she decided he wasn’t as cute as she thought he was. He… Actually felt heartbroken. This was a stupid thing.

It was half past one and he was about to leave when the doors swung open and Aradia walked through the door and straight into him. They collided with an ‘oof’ and he caught her before she pushed herself and him over.

She straightened up and took a deep breath, ready to apologise when she realised who he was. Her blush crawled up her cheeks and Sollux felt his own face heat up with embarrassment too.

Aradia pulled away from him and straightened her clothing out. She was wearing a white blouse, a black vest and a red skirt, and to Sollux’s eyes they flattered her curves and made him want to admire her for longer. When she cleared her throat he looked up at her wide eyes, which were staring at him with a glimmer of apology and happiness. However, he couldn’t help notice that her eyes were red-rimmed. She had been crying. It felt like a stab to the heart, and he wanted to ask her what was wrong; someone as pretty as her shouldn’t cry at all!

She took another deep breath and smiled at him, her plump lips stretching only a little bit. “So… I’m Aradia, and it’s nice to actually meet you! Did you see my video? Did Feferi tell you I wanted to meet you?”

He didn’t want to tell her that he’s watched ALL her videos, so he just nodded. “Oh, yeah, FF told me about it, and then I went to watch it.” Sollux straightened up to his full height and scratched the back of his head nervously. “Do you, uh, wanna go and sit?”

“Sure!” She said cheerfully, taking his hand and pulling him over to a nearby booth. They were more comfortable and it was more likely they would be able to have a private conversation. “I’m sorry I’m late. I was having some trouble and I wasn’t able to get away from it.”

“It’s fine.” He slid into the seat opposite from her, and grinned his embarrassing grin that caused his lisp. “I’m Sollux, by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you Sollux.” She seemed a lot happier by then, and she reached over to shake his hand. “So, what do you like to do?”

“Oh, uh, I like coding.” He nodded slowly. “I like coding and video games. I also know how to hack into computers and phones, but I only do that if I really need to.” He finished what he was saying and watched her as she gestured, obviously waiting for him to ask a question. Sollux was about to tell her that he already knew what she liked, but then that would be weird and it would raise a lot of questions.

“Oh, what do you like to do for fun?” He asked her, resting his elbows on the table and leaning towards her. It felt like she was so little, and so far away. Too far away, even.

“Well, when I was little, I loved Indiana Jones! I kind of still love him, actually. And I always wanted to be an archaeologist, so now I’m studying anthropology at university.” She sighed dreamily and leaned back in her seat. “Some people say I have an obsession with the dead, but I like to think that I respect it a lot more than others.”

He nodded a little and smiled down at her, loving being able to hear her voice out loud. It was prettier than hearing it through his headphones. The way her eyes sparkled while she described how lovely death is, how peaceful it could be, made his heart thump painfully. He wanted to kiss her.

Yet again though, that would be very very weird. Instead, he chose to link his fingers with hers and hold her hand. Her babbling quietened down then, and she had a light dusting of red on her cheeks as she blinked owlishly at their linked fingers. Her hands were so small, but they had callouses, and he couldn’t help but run his thumb over them.

They were silent for a few moments; even the bustle of the cafe had faded. Sollux took another deep breath and asked her a question that he would hopefully get a favourable answer to.

“Aradia, ah, AA. Would you like to go to a movie with me? Tomorrow? If tomorrow’s okay?”

She nodded silently, and then her neutral expression exploded into one of utter happiness. “I would love to go to a movie with you, Sollux.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for such nice comments! I've never gotten comments like those on my fanfics before, and they kind of make me want to try and keep writing this. I have quite a few ideas to progress this story, and I'm definitely aiming for a happy ending. I'll try and post Chapter 6 tomorrow if I can. The movie Aradia and Sollux will be going to is The Book of Life which has actually just been released here!


	6. The Date!

There was honestly something intriguing about meeting someone at a theatre at night to watch a movie where the primary theme was death. Or maybe that was just Aradia. She finally had a chance to wear that cute red dress she had bought a few days ago, and God she looked good in it. She had spent most of the evening posing for it, skipping around her room and ignoring Vriska’s spiteful comments because, for once this week, she was completely happy.

She had forgotten for a moment that her sister was currently lying in a bed at the other end of the country, possibly unable to wake up. It was maybe for the best as she was now going on a date with someone who was probably one of the sweetest people she had met.

They had been texting all night and all day, mostly cute and short texts that complimented the recipient. Aradia loved them. It was almost as if he already knew so much about her, so much about what she liked to hear.

When she arrived at the theatre, Sollux was already there. He was wearing the same leather jacket he wore yesterday (dork) and a polo shirt (double dork) but she still found it rather adorable. When he spotted her, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey AA. Do you mind if I call you AA? You seem like an AA.” His lisp made her laugh, and she wanted to ask him to say ‘Mississippi’ but then he might be a little annoyed. “I’ve already bought the tickets, so if you want to buy popcorn then we could and maybe split it?” He started blushing as he talked, looking down at her and into her eyes. She noticed he had one green eye and one blue eye. Beautiful.

“You didn’t have to buy me a ticket.” She giggled, taking his hand and linking their fingers together. He locked up and she couldn’t help but laugh more. “Don’t be so shy. You weren’t shy in the cafe yesterday.” She started pulling him along to the theatre, but then she took a detour to a photo booth.

“Woah, what are we doing here?” He stooped to fit into the booth as Aradia put in a few coins in and chose to take six photos. The booth asked them to pose and they did.

The first photo was funny, with Aradia and Sollux both pulling silly faces. The rest of the photos followed suit, until they took the final photo. This photo became romantic, with Aradia pulling Sollux down to her height so she could kiss his cheek.

He pocketed the picture since she had no pockets, and took her to the theatre. The film was starting soon.

They were shown beautiful colours and pictures, enraptured by what was flawless animation in the film _The Book of Life_. When they met La Muerte, Aradia was amazed, and she couldn’t take her eyes off her. She swore La Muerte looked like her.

She jumped a little in her seat when Sollux leaned over and whispered to her, “you’re just as pretty as she is. You could be her.” She couldn’t help but lean into him and snuggle closer throughout the film. Despite his extremely skinny body, she felt very comfortable leaning against him.

When the movie was over and she was filled with such a _powerful_ feeling that she thought it was going to burst out of her and create a problem. Just sitting here with Sollux made her feel all warm and fuzzy. She couldn’t help it.

She had to park a while away from the theatre, and she was glad that Sollux offered to walk with her. Their fingers and hands were intertwined, and they swung between them as they walked, talking about their families. Despite it being a difficult topic, Aradia found it easy to tell him about her sister and her father.

“My sister Damara used to be almost my best friend.” She said in a quiet voice. Despite it being a city street, it was dead silent. “When she was fifteen, her boyfriend cheated on her. Since then she’s been doing hard drugs and trying to get herself killed. Even though I think death is something to be welcomed, she shouldn’t really do what she’s doing now.” 

“I have a brother.” Sollux mumbled, scooting closer to her. They were almost at his car now. “I don’t see him so often, but maybe it’s for the best. He had a skateboarding accident when we were younger, and he hasn’t been right since. My dad won’t even let him out of his sight. I email and call him on Skype, so at least we stay in touch.”

She stopped at her car and sighed, looking up at him with tears glistening in her eyes. “My sister is in hospital right now, in a coma, and I don’t even think she’s going to wake up before the summer holidays. I can’t even go to see her because it’s too much for me to fly all the way to Boston before then.”

Sollux cupped her face with his hands and took a deep breath, and then he kissed her lips. She melted instantly, her eyes fluttering shut and her arms draping themselves over his shoulders as he leaned into her. His arms slipped down to his waist and he pulled her closer, tight against himself.

His lips tasted like honey, and she liked it that way. He was warmer than the city air, and softer than wool. She could stand like this for hours, just kissing him and allowing him to drown all her worries and insecurities about herself that she had been advised by her therapist. It was bliss.

Eventually though, that kiss had to break, and Aradia pulled away from him. She blinked slowly and looked up at him. She kissed him one last time, and then she finally got into her car. He watched her go, and she waved good bye.

Technically, it wasn’t her car, so she took it back to it’s owner, Feferi, and returned to her dorm. Wherever Vriska was, it wasn’t there, and Aradia was kind of glad that she wasn’t there. Honestly, having Vriska Serket ask her if they made out in the back of his car would have been the most embarrassing thing ever! However, Aradia decided to make a late night video.

“Hey, I’m ApocalypseArisen, and I’m going to make a short video.” Aradia took a deep breath and then, she let out a loud and excited squeal. “Tonight was lovely! I had a date with the mystery man from the coffee shop. It kind of blows all the things on my mind out of the water.”

Well, not completely, but it was nice to imagine, right? “We went to see _The Book of Life_ and it was the best film ever! La Muerte was gorgeous. Xibalba was a bit… Eh.” She shrugged and laughed. “I really do recommend it, and I also recommend taking someone on a date to it and getting a kiss at the end. It just kind of… Settles the night.”

She sighed dreamily and put her chin in her hands, “I actually kind of think I’m in love. Gosh, I’m totally in love with this tall and handsome man. He seems a bit shy though. I’m sure he will come out of his shell soon though.”

She stretched up and yawned loudly, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them again, everything was blurry. “Okay, I’m ending this video because I am so tired!” She waved at the camera and smiled. “Goodnight!”

Aradia switched off the camera and uploaded the video, and then she undressed and snuggled down into her bed. She dreamt of boys and honey coated lips.

***~***

In the morning she checked her emails and found someone had commented on her latest video. TwinArmageddons again, probably complimenting her.

But then, she realised it was a little strange.

TwinArmageddons (posted eight hours ago)  
Yeah, I enjoyed the night too.

What. The. Fuck.

She clicked on TwinArmageddons’ videos, and watched it for a couple of minutes. Then it clicked.

What. The. Fuck. Sollux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you tumblr user 100d-disdain for POINTING OUT MY INNUENDOS. I don't know how much longer this fanfic is going to run for, but I'm assuming it will be longer than my last one. Hoping for fall outs between fronds and such. :33c


	7. Be Truthful

As soon as he posted it, he knew it was a mistake. Now she’s going to know. She’s going to _know_ he’s TwinArmageddons and she’s going to hate him forever and then he truly will be forever alone. Of course, her hating him wouldn’t even compare to the utter self hate he felt for himself now. He’s always been like this, hating himself for no reason in particular other than the fact that he was a complete and utter douchebag and that no girl or boy should ever have to put up with him.

But Aradia put up with him, and now he just ruined it. He was such an idiot. He wouldn’t be surprised if she never spoke to him again.

Sollux decided that maybe if he slept it off, then he wouldn’t have to deal with feeling like complete and utter shit. When he woke up in the morning, the feeling had subsided as he got up and drank an energy drink, and then made his latest video.

This time he was playing Minecraft and he was making a giant lifesize bee. He made all his usual comments into the mic about how amazing bees were, despite being allergic to them to the point where he might die if he were stung by one. However, something just seemed off, and he knew that the comment he had posted onto Aradia’s video just wasn’t going to go away by itself. He was the only person that commented on her videos anyway!

So, he took a deep breath and glanced at the camera. While he was still building this gigantic bee, he said, “okay, guys, I need some advice here.”

“I went on this date with a girl, I’m not going to tell you guys her name because I don’t want any of you fuckers harassing her.” He leaned back from the computer and stretched, “and she has her own channel and everything, but she doesn’t know I watch it. I think she kind of hates me now because I kind of admitted on her latest video that it was me that was on that date. I don’t know how to talk to her either.”

He leaned back towards the computer and looked into the video, “look, if any of you guys have any advice for what I should do, that would be super fucking helpful right now. You can post any advice you might have for me for getting this girl back, and maybe I’ll actually take it. You know… I really love this girl.”

He ended the video there, not even bothering to finish his stupid bee and uploaded the video. Some of his fans should give him some advice, maybe. It might not be good advice, but hopefully advice all the same.

When he was done, he tried ringing Aradia, and then he realised that she was probably in class since it was Monday and promptly hung up. Hopefully her phone didn’t ring out during one of her classes and mess up whatever her professor was saying. Who was he kidding, it totally did, and now she probably hates him even more!

Sollux dropped his phone on the floor in the middle of his living room and flopped down, not caring when he squished his nose against the carpet. Aradia was never going to speak to him again, may as well dirty up that extremely white carpet with his disgusting blood.

He was about to fall asleep, the energy drink wearing off while he lay there when his phone started ringing. Groaning, he picked it up and answered without looking at the caller ID.

“What do you want?” Aradia asked, her voice harsh. Yes, she was mad at him.

“Look, AA-” He began, but he was interrupted.

“Don’t ‘look, AA’ me! I opened up to you, I told you about everything and you failed to mention that you were a famous Youtuber with almost a million fans?” To be fair, they had only been together for two days, but it did feel like forever.

“I know. I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I just… I didn’t want you to find me creepy by watching your videos.”

She was silent. It seemed to stretch on forever and Sollux wondered whether or not she had just hung up on him and he didn’t notice. But then she spoke. “I would have found it less creepy if you had admitted it in the cafe, Sollux.”

Of course. He had considered admitting then, but like the idiot he was, he didn’t. “You know, I thought that TwinArmageddons was just some guy who had been stalking me. It almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I’m sorry, AA.” He mumbled, putting his head on his knees and taking a deep breath. He was waiting for the ‘I never want to see you again’ comment.

“Sollux?” Aradia asked, and then she took a deep breath, “I don’t know how your mind works, but I think I would love to get to know it. I really would. Maybe instead of meeting up, we can just… Talk over the phone?” 

“Sure.” Sollux smiled a little. “I’d like that, Aradia. Do we… Do we start now?”

“No.” Aradia said firmly, and he felt his heart sink. “We don’t start now because I have another class to go to. I guess I’ll talk to you tonight.”

She spoke coldly, but he was sure he could get her to warm up to him. Losing a girl’s interest merely two days after meeting her must be a new record or something. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later then. Bye Aradia.”

“Bye Sollux.”

Later seemed to take forever.

***~***

When later finally did come, they talked on the phone for hours. Sollux told Aradia jokes, and he was glad to hear her laugh again.

“Okay, okay, I have another one. What do you call a bee that lives in America?”

“I don’t know. What?”

“USB!”

Aradia giggled and Sollux couldn’t help but laugh with her. It was so cute to hear her snort over the phone.

“Okay, I have one. Why couldn’t the little lamb play outside?”

“Why?”

“Because it was being baaaaaaaaaaaaad.” She bleated into the phone like a sheep and burst out in a fit of giggles. Sollux laughed with her. He was sure both of them might have had a little bit to drink. In fact, he had a can of beer, opened of course, sitting next to him. It was his third one that night.

When the laughter died down, he heard Aradia take a deep breath, and Sollux did too. “I’m sorry about the comment Aradia.” He said, even though he didn’t really need to.

“It’s okay, Sollux. At least you’re being truthful now. You are being truthful, right?”

He couldn’t help but imagine her looking at him like that girl looked at that boy in the music video for the song, ‘The Future Soon.’ All suspicious with narrow eyes, but still awfully cute. Then she laughed.

 

“I’m pretty sure you’re being truthful.”

“I am truthful, AA. I’m always truthful.”

He swore he could hear her smiling at the other end of the phone. “Sollux?”

“Yes, AA?”

“I think I love you.”

It was then that his heart felt like it was going to explode. “I think I love you too, AA.”

She giggled and whispered it again, and for another ten minutes they were whispering it, until Sollux heard something being thrown at her over the phone.

“I have to go. Vriska’s telling me to go to sleep.” She yawned a little and Sollux couldn’t help but yawn too. It was getting late. “Good night Sollux.”

“Good night AA.” The line went dead and Sollux laid back on his bed and closed his eyes. He dreamt of something that definitely excited him by the time he woke up; a girl dressed in a red dress, with red lips to match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Innuendo and bad jokes galore! Chapter 8 might go up sometime today, and I think it might be quite long. The song mentioned is from here ==> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDzMY5GiSrI and specifically that video. Enjoy!


	8. Set The Date. Again.

It was nice to take a break from university classes every once and a while, and just hang out with your best friends. Aradia would like her best friends to call her so she isn’t stuck with Vriska Serket for the day. 

However, these kinds of things never happen, and now Vriska was dragging Aradia to the shops so they could look at clothing they will never buy and jewelry they will never wear. At least Vriska agreed to stop at the cafe to get food, although she knew better.

“You just wanna see if _he’s_ there.” She teased while Aradia drove, taking one of her curls and twisting it around her finger. “I know you, Aradia. You get caught up on liking people and then you want to see them all the time.”

“Not true.” She sighed, rolling her eyes. Maybe it was true though. How likely was it that Sollux Captor might be at the cafe while she and Vriska were there? Maybe he was making a new video.

He had told Aradia all about his youtube channel over the past few days, and about his coding degree and how he was earning all his money (coding and youtube videos! How could anyone earn so much) and that he was almost at a million subscribers. She had even made the effort to try and watch his videos. They weren’t really very interesting, but his voice was intoxicating. This was obviously what falling in love felt like.

Too bad Vriska obviously didn’t care if Aradia was falling in love. She pulled into a parking spot and ran out of the car, hoping to lose her before she grabbed her and dragged her to that punk rock shop she was horribly out of place in.

She was a little too late because Vriska managed to take her arm and show her around to all her favourite shops and show her all the clothes that might look good on her if she maybe smiled less and became more punk rock. In turn, Aradia made Vriska come to the natural history shop where they looked at all these weird experiments that they could do. Aradia eventually ended up buying a dinosaur that grew if you put it in water. Vriska bought a fake spider she was going to prank people with.

When they arrived at the cafe, Vriska spent an awfully long time looking at the cakes even though she had already bought herself a blueberry muffin. When she finally sat back down, she raised an eyebrow at Aradia, who was watching her curiously. “What? Can’t a girl peruse the cake selection a little longer?”

“Well, since you _only_ like blueberry muffins, I thought it was kinda weird.” She stabbed her cinnamon dusted brownie and ate it. 

“Maybe I want to try something new for a change!” She said defensively, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes out. “It’s you that has a passion for honey coated men.”

Aradia’s face heated up and she narrowed her eyes at Vriska. “Excuse me? You have a taste for girls that have obsessions with fish! So that’s just unfair of you to say to me.”

Vriska’s face turned completely red and her scowl dropped into a neutral expression. Her eyes were wide with shock. “How do you know about that?”

“It’s completely obvious.” Aradia said matter of factly, taking a sip of her coffee. “Especially since every time Feferi grabs my hand you insist on drilling holes at the back of my head with your eyes.”

“Oh.” 

“I mean, Vriska, if you want Feferi to notice you, and goodness knows she has already, then you go up to her and ask her out on a date!”

“Wait, Feferi noticed me?”

Dammit. Aradia stopped eating her brownie halfway through, eyes wide. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

“Well you fucking did, Megido. What do you mean she noticed me?”

“I mean she likes you too, you dumbass!” Aradia scowled and put her fork down. “Okay? Feferi Peixes has a giant crush on you but she didn’t want me to tell you because she was scared you were going to reject her.”

“I’m not going to reject her!” She huffed, and then she stood up, slamming her hands on the table. “In fact, I’m going to take her that raspberry cheesecake and ask her out on a date!”

She started storming away from the table and bought the cheesecake, but just as she got out the door, she turned and stared at Aradia helplessly. “You have to come with me. I’m not walking fifty miles to get back to campus.”

Aradia laughed and stood up, stuffing the blueberry muffin and the rest of the brownie into a paper bag and hurrying after Vriska. They drove back to campus in silence and Vriska immediately made Aradia come to Feferi’s dorm room when they got back.

Amazingly, despite all the clothing Feferi owned, her dorm was much neater than Aradia and Vriska’s. It might just be that Vriska likes to annoy Aradia by putting all her things all around their room, and leaving her bras on Aradia’s pillow (poor, poor Indiana Jones.)

Feferi was in there of course, and she was shocked to find that Vriska had bought her a cheesecake. She looked at Aradia with a frown, and she knew that she could see through her. She knew.

Vriska put her hands on her hips and looked at Feferi, then she smiled. “Feferi?”

The pretty red-headed Bahamian girl looked at Vriska and smiled sweetly. “Yes?”

“Will you go on a date with me?” She stepped closer to her and curled a red lock around her fingers, then she leaned closer and pressed a small kiss to Feferi’s lips. Aradia smiled a little and sat on Feferi’s bed, waiting for the other girl’s reply.

It took a moment, but then Feferi suddenly squealed and wrapped her arms around Vriska. “I would love love _love_ to go on a date with you!”

Vriska breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Feferi tight, pressing her face into her neck. They stood there for a few minutes and Aradia decided it would be a good time to move, so she slipped out of the room and back to her dorm.

It was a while before Vriska returned, her hair a mess and her clothes a little askew. Aradia smirked at her computer screen as she typed up a report for one of her classes; looks like someone is going to have a whirlwind romance.

“Feferi’s probably going to ask you something over skype.” She mumbled as she slumped down onto her bed, a giddy smile on her face. Someone enjoyed themselves.

As soon as Vriska said that, Aradia received a message from Feferi.

Feferi Peixes: I think we should go on a huge group date!

No surprises.

Aradia Megido: How huge a group date? 

Feferi Peixes: ENORMOUS! Like, me and Vriska, you and Sollux, Karkat and Terezi, and Gamzee and Tavros!

Aradia Megido: So. Four couples?

Feferi Peixes: Yes!

Aradia had to admit, it wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, it could be delightful! Sollux could really enjoy it, goodness knows they need to do something other than talk on the phone and flirt all the time.

Aradia Megido: Okay. Where will this date take place?

Feferi Peixes: I was thinking a fancy restaurant. We can split the bill if that makes everyone more comfortable.

Aradia Megido: Sounds like a plan!

So they planned their entire date and messaged all their friends. Tavros and Gamzee were very willing, since they were promised semi-free food and a fun night. Karkat and Terezi argued about it over the phone until they finally agreed. Aradia just had to ask Sollux.

It was time for their nightly call. She took a deep breath and called his number. He picked up on the fourth ring. (“Him and his twos.” She murmured.)

“Hello, Miss AA.” He lisped into the phone, and Aradia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh shut up, it’s a genetic problem!” He groaned, and she could hear him slap his forehead with his hand.

“I’m sorry. You just sound so funny! Anyway, I called you to ask you something.”

“If this has something to do with you coming over and letting me have my way with you, don’t you think it’s a little early?”

“You’re such a dork.” Aradia deadpanned, “actually, I was going to ask you on a date.”

“A date? Challenging roles, are we?”

“Shut up! It’s at a fancy restaurant with Feferi, Vriska, Gamzee, Tavros, Karkat and Terezi.”

“I understand the fancy restaurant part, but how can it be a date when there’s eight of us?”

“It’s like a giant mega four-couples date.” She told him, “Well, three couples plus Gamzee and Tavros, but they’re technically a couple so.”

“Hm. Sounds fun. Do I get to make fun of KK?”

“I’m assuming you mean Karkat. Sure. Everyone makes fun of him.” It was true. They made gentle but lovingly annoying comments towards Karkat, it was so much fun to tease him.

“Sweet. One more question.”

“Shoot.”

“Do I have to wear a tuxedo?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck. I don’t have a tuxedo.”

“And I don’t have a dress so I’m going to go and buy one.” Vriska, Feferi and Aradia were all planning on getting special dresses for the night. As all three of them had missed prom (there was a flu endemic where they had lived before which knocked them out the night of the prom) this was virtually an exciting redo. Feferi had planned where they were going, and it was extra fancy, so tuxedos and dresses were a must.

“Alright. I’ll make Karkat come with me to the rental shop so we can get matching ones.” She had a feeling that he was planning on making Karkat wear a lot of yellow so he could laugh at him all night.

“Great. The date is on Friday. We’ll pick you up from your apartment.” She smiled a little and flopped down onto her bed. She was also very sure he would look great in a tuxedo.

“Sweet. I guess I’ll see you then?”

“Yes. You will see me then.” She sighed softly and listened to him say good night before hanging up. She was certain he was going to look handsome in his tuxedo. She was certain this date would go off without a hitch!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *mad cackling* I love all these comments and all these kudos! It's almost matching the number of kudos I got on my last fanfic! Anyway, enjoy chapter 8. Chapter 9 should come tomorrow.


	9. The Date! Again

Sollux stared at himself in the mirror and untied his tie again. It wasn’t perfect. He didn’t look right. It had to be perfect. Yet again he tied up his tie, and took a deep breath. His hair was still a mess, his glasses clashed with his silly suit, and it felt like it was riding up his butt. He took another breath.

“Aradia’s going to love this.” He told himself. “She really will. And she will look beautiful and you will forget all about how badly tied this shitty red tie is. I promise.”

He pointed double pistols at his reflection and clicked his tongue. Damn, he looked good. There’s the confidence boost he was waiting for. He grabbed his wallet and tucked it into the inside pocket of his coat and ran out to where Karkat was already parked and fuming.

“I don’t fucking understand why you need to spend twenty minutes when you’re already ready.” He huffed, turning on the engine and pulling out into traffic. “I’m serious, Sollux. You’re already too much of an obnoxious asshole. Why do you need to spend more time ‘dolling’ yourself up. I bet the girls are all at the restaurant, have eaten and are currently making out in whichever car they brought with them tonight.”

Sollux rolled his eyes and glanced back at Gamzee and Tavros, who were holding hands and wearing identical suits; Gamzee’s had a purple shirt while Tavros’s had a brown shirt. “Sup brother.” Gamzee nodded to Sollux.

Karkat was wearing a grey shirt, with a red rose lapel. He looked kind of messy with his hair up like that, and Sollux couldn’t help but laugh at him. He was a dork.

“Fuck you, Sollux.” Karkat grumbled.

They drove to the restaurant in silence. When they arrived, the maitre’d brought them to the table that Feferi, Vriska, Aradia and Terezi were already sitting at. When Sollux saw Aradia, he couldn’t help but smile.

She was wearing a red dress that bunched at her hips, and unlike the other three girls, her dress didn’t sparkle. It was strapless, and hung to her knees. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was smiling and laughing with Terezi. Vriska and Feferi were already in their own world, holding hands and mumbling things, probably about some of the older guests at the restaurant that were staring at the group of young people in a frightened way.

Sollux himself was actually quite scared. Again. What if his suit wasn’t up to scratch? What if Aradia dumps him then and there in front of their friends? But when she saw him and smiled, he felt like he had nothing to fear. She got up, teetering in red heels and leaned up to kiss his cheek. 

“You look handsome.” She murmured. He felt his face heat up and quickly took his seat beside her.

“Thanks AA.” He whispered, and held her hand underneath the table as they waited for their friends to stop bickering. Most of the people at this table were of legal age to drink, so many of them ordered martinis and cocktails. Aradia and Tavros were the only two that didn’t, mainly because they were still underage, and they were the designated drivers for the evening.

They ordered four group meals to share, since the drinks were already quite expensive, and spent the night talking and laughing. Except for Karkat, who didn’t seem to enjoy being licked by Terezi again. It was almost strange that they were together, when it seemed that Terezi’s sole purpose was to piss Karkat off.

They told jokes together, so many of them were lame though. But they all laughed throughout the night as they got drunker and drunker. Aradia and Tavros laughed to play along, but Aradia was finding it hard to keep her composure as Sollux’s hand rested on her thigh. He could see her lack of composure, and she smiled sweetly at him and let her own hand travel up his leg. It was nice to tease each other.

Gamzee and Tavros were awfully cute, with Tavros giggling at every silly trick Gamzee tried. Sollux always thought they would be together. They just seemed to like each other a lot.

By the end of the night, however, Terezi and Karkat were making out in the back of Karkat’s car. Feferi and Vriska were fast asleep in the back of Feferi’s car. When Gamzee and Tavros drove back with Karkat and Terezi, Aradia offered to take Sollux home.

The car ride was quiet and Aradia was still so pretty in the moonlight. Sollux watched her with a lazy smile on his face and twirled any stray strands of hair around his finger. It was sad when he finally got home, and he hesitated leaving the car. He wanted to stay with Aradia.

She parked the car and turned to him, and then she linked their hands together. Sollux leaned over and kissed her again.

In a matter of moments, she was straddling his lap, cupping his face with her hands and kissing him passionately. His face was covered with lipstick marks, and their shared breathing was heavy and excited.

She moaned his name against his lips as she left one last kiss, and pulled away. “Sollux, I need to get back to campus. You need to get back to bed.”

He kissed her again, not wanting to let her go.

When he finally did let go, she quickly climbed back into the driver’s seat and adjusted her dress. He kissed her cheek one last time and went up to his apartment, smiling and warm, and excitement pooling in his groin. He loved Aradia so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite short, but shit hits the fan next chapter! I've only got a few left, I think. Thank you all for the 54 kudos! It's more than my last fanfic!


	10. All of the Things Turn Bad

The night was one of the best Aradia had had in a long time. Even when it was in the past and Aradia and Sollux had officially become a couple, she appreciated the special night that was much better than her own prom night she never even attended. However, the sweet buzz from a night of merriment was about to end rather abruptly.

Aradia and Sollux were lounging around his living room, her head on his lap while she played on her phone. It was at this moment she got an unexpected call from her father. Aradia sighed and sat up, answering. It’s gotta be about Damara.

“Sweetie?” He asked as soon as he answered. His voice was thick, as if he had been crying. Aradia swallowed, worried about what he was going to say.

“Yes dad? What is it? Is Damara okay?” She asked slowly, taking a deep breath to prepare herself.

“Darling, Aradia, Damara… She’s dead.” 

“What.” She whispered, blinking away tears that were gathering in her eyes. Maybe she didn’t hear him right.

“She’s dead, Aradia. Dead. She couldn’t get out of her coma.” His voice wavered a little and then ugly sobs came over the phone. He was crying. She wasn’t there to hug him and calm him down.

Instead she cupped a hand over her mouth and dropped her phone on the floor. She curled up and started crying herself, taking deep heaving breaths and heaving. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Her sister was dead and she can’t afford to fly across the country for her funeral. Sollux’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her onto his lap, stroking her hair and whispering calmly into her ear. “Aradia, Aradia, it’s okay. Shhh.”

It took her a while to calm down, but when she did she simply snuggled against Sollux and tried to breathe normally. The shock was setting in now. Damara was gone.

The least she could do was cry about it! Aradia and Damara had both believed death was a good thing in their lives, even when you lose a loved one. She knew exactly what she had to do, since she couldn’t make it to her sister’s funeral.

She needed to make a video about it.

Sollux was helpful, bringing her all the equipment she needed and setting it up for her. She took a deep breath as he switched it on, and then she started talking.

“Hey, everyone! This is ApocalypseArisen, and I’m a little upset right now, but that’s okay. Sadness is a natural reaction to death. And that’s what this video is about. It’s something that happens in our daily lives! I know because it’s just happened in my life today.”

“My sister, Damara, passed away earlier today and I’m not able to go and see her before she’s buried. But that’s okay! Everything is okay! Like I said, death is natural. You see it all around you, from the bug that you squash when it comes into your house, to the deer you hit when you’re driving at night and it jumps in front of you.” She smiled into the camera, to take the attention off her red eyes. No need to look at that now, just focus on the girl talking about death.

“There are, on average, 153,000 deaths a day. That seems like a lot, but we have a lot of people in our world. And our population is still growing today! We may not witness death everyday within our population ourselves, but it happens! As long as we remember to look after each other, and to remember those that passed on, then it’s okay!”

She leaned towards the camera and sighed, “think about it this way. When they die, they simply go on another adventure! In some cultures it’s believed they party every single moment of their undead lives! Some religions believe in heaven. Some other cultures believe in reincarnation. Whichever thing may be true, I know I’ll see my sister again someday.”

She stopped smiling for a moment and put her head in her hands, and then she sat up and smiled again. “So, I’m ApocalypseArisen, and this isn’t going to be my only video about death. This is my forty-seventh video, thanks for watching!”

Sollux edited it for her and uploaded it, then he held her tight while she slept against his chest on his bed. There was no pushing, no telling of her to go back to campus like some people might. Just simple silence while he let her be upset about Damara’s death in her own way.

When she got back to campus, however, nothing was much better. It had all been nice and peaceful when she heard arguing up the staircase towards her dorm room. It sounded like Vriska and Tavros.

“Come oooon, dumbass!” She laughed, “it’ll be so much fun if you just let me borrow your card set!”

“No. No.” Tavros stuttered, and Aradia could imagine him crossing his arms and frowning. “You can’t have them. They’re special. I don’t want you selling them.”

“I’m not going to sell them.” She purred, and Aradia could also imagine her resting her hands on his shoulders. “I promise. I just want to play pokemon! Who cares if I’m strapped for cash.”

“Vriska. No means no. Maybe. Maybe you shouldn’t have spent your money. On all that jewelry you wanted.” 

“Ugh. Fine!” She heard Vriska turn away, but then she heard Tavros yell and many heavy thuds in succession. The stairs were steep and made of polished wood, and Aradia knew that would hurt. 

She attempted to climb up the stairs to catch Tavros before he fell any further, but that would have been dangerous. She saw him hit the landing and then continue tumbling all the way to her. This time she managed to catch him before he landed in a position that would surely kill him.

There were footsteps coming down the stairs and Vriska appeared on the landing, looking really worried. But when she saw Aradia, she smirked. 

“Megido.” She laughed, “he just fell. Isn’t that _pathetic_ of him?” But Aradia knew she was worried. The way she was standing was nervous body language.

She held Tavros’s head on her lap, and he was unconscious and bleeding. When she tried to find his pulse, her fingers were shaking and she couldn’t get direct contact with any arteries. Angrily, she glared up at Vriska, “well? Go and call a fucking ambulance you bitch! Tell them he fell, even though we both know it was you.”

Vriska looked shocked at Aradia’s language, and she scowled, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “How the fuck was I supposed to know he was going to fall at the exact moment I pulled away!? I didn’t push him.”

“Just call an ambulance, okay!” She cupped Tavros’s face and tried to get him to wake up, but it was useless. When Gamzee arrived, he knelt beside Aradia and tried to wake Tavros up, but under all that makeup she could see he was nervous too.

As Tavros’s boyfriend, Gamzee went to the hospital with him, leaving Aradia and Vriska alone. 

“I can’t believe you.” Aradia shook her head in disbelief as she walked up to their dorm room. “You already tried killing him before.”

“I told you! I did not push him!” She yelled, trying to grab Aradia before she got to their room. “Just because I did some bad things when I was younger doesn’t mean I still do bad things?”

“You were trying to make him give you his prized possessions!” She argued, “why? He doesn’t trust you anyway. Just because he’s weak doesn’t mean you can pick on him!”

“As if you’d care.” Vriska sneered, “you used to leave Tavros with me all the time when you went on your silly adventures.”

Ouch, okay, maybe Aradia had abandoned Tavros sometimes, but she had never intentionally hurt him like Vriska. She scowled and closed the door to their dorm halfway. “Why don’t you go and fuck your girlfriend. That’s why she’s there.” And slammed the door in Vriska’s face.

She didn’t see Vriska for the rest of that night. Even when the police came by to investigate. Because Aradia didn’t see what happened, she sent them away and told them where to find Vriska. 

Tavros said it was an accident. She was starting to regret yelling at Vriska, because she could get even easily. Vriska Serket was a formidable foe, and not one to anger, and Aradia had done just that.

Whatever was going to happen, it was not going to be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gained almost ten kudos in 24 hours!! That's gotta be a record of sorts. Also, no, Vriska didn't push Tavros. He's just a klutz. She also won't hurt Aradia either, because I'm pretty sure I said she was Hindu, and Hindus are pacifists. But now bad things! I think the next chapter will be the last, but if I come up with some other ideas with my beta-reader (100d-disdain) then I might continue it!
> 
> This is going on an Indefinite Hiatus, until I figure out how the fuck I'm going to start chapter 11. I might have some more ideas around the Youtube aspect of this fic after chapter 11 to round it off nicely. Who knows?


	11. So Things Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, chapter 11, at long last! I'm sorry it took so long. Life fucking sucks.

Aradia turned up at Sollux's apartment before dark. It had been snowing outside, and her hair had snowflakes threaded throughout her curls. When he saw her frozen tears and her suitcase, he immediately assumed the worst. He pulled her inside and wrapped his spaghetti arms around her shoulders, while she dropped her (heavy) suitcase on his feet.

He didn't hiss in pain or anything. Rather he held her tighter while she buried her face in his chest. All the while, the thought went through his head like a broken record: "is this our goodbye hug?"

He didn't want her to leave. For goodness sake, he had just found her! Sollux took a deep breath and asked her, "are you leaving, AA?" 

"Huh?" She asked him, her quiet sobbing stopping for a moment, and she looked up at him with twinkling eyes. There was nothing said for a long, worried moment. And then she started laughing. Her red lips curled back and she was giggling! Sollux was amazed, his beautiful girlfriend was laughing because of a simple question he had asked.

When she had stopped laughing, she shook her head. "No, Sollux, I'm not leaving."

"Then what's with the suitcase?" Sollux released her to pick it up, but then he almost crumbled with the unused muscles he was using. "What the fuck is in here?" 

"Oh, you know. Just bits and bobs." She giggled, waving her hand dismissively. Now that she wasn't crying, she was back to her cheerful self. "Just my excavation gear and some clothing." 

'Just some excavation gear' was code for Aradia's entire set, which weighed about the same as three bricks to Sollux, which wasn't a lot but it showed he wasn't very strong. Why she had brought it was obviously an answer she was trying to avoid. Right now she was making him a coffee.

Sollux dropped the suitcase again and went to stand behind her. His arms were around his waist and he rested his chin on her head. It was much better that she was happy rather than sad, really.

It was nice like this. Nice and domestic and calm. He could definitely spend his nights like this. There was nothing wrong with settling down with the right girl or guy and just be happy.

So that night, he and Aradia did a lot of things. They watched an old film, played a game of monopoly (Aradia won, even when Sollux broke out the rules) and they listened to each other's taste in music (Sollux listened to a whole lot of electronica, Aradia loved Indie music.) Their night climaxed with them lying on top of each other on Sollux's sofa, glasses of champagne in their hands. It was then that Aradia admitted why she had been so upset earlier.

"I had an argument with Vriska." She slurred, lazily drawing circles on his chest. "About a lot of things."

"Oh, yeah?" Sollux knew where this was going, but he tried hard to quell the anger in his throat that threatened to rise. How dare Vriska do that. He made himself calm down by looking at Aradia's hand, watching it carefully. It was mesmerising, seeing her red painted fingernail make gentle circles, and it sent electricity surging through his body. He couldn't help it when his gaze drifted to her chest, and he tightened his arm around her waist.

She took a shaky breath, but then her face crumpled and she nodded sadly. "She took my stuff, and she kicked me out. I have nowhere to go, and I can't move back to New York with my dad. It's too far away."

"No, no, shh, AA." He cupped her face and his arm around her waist pulled her closer. It was heartbreaking for him to see her cry. "You can stay here, please don't cry. You can live with me."

She blinked away tears and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. "You mean it?"

He smirked at her slightly, but that smirk grew bigger when she grinned at him. He leaned closer to her and whispered, "of course I mean it."

His lips brushed hers and she seized his shoulders, pulling him against her as she returned a passionate kiss. It was enough to light a spark between them, with Sollux grabbing her under her thighs and carrying her to his bedroom. They tumbled into his bed, fingers threading through each others hair and undoing each others clothing. It wasn't long before their clothes were completely removed, and they both revelled in a night of kisses and _love._

When it was over, they were both positively glowing. Aradia had her head against Sollux's chest, and her eyes were fluttering shut as she watched the snow through the gap in his curtains. Sollux was twirling her hair in his fingers, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I love you, AA."

"I love you too Sollux."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that Chapter 12 is going to be the final chapter. It might be a while before I write it but when I do I promise it will be GREAT!


	12. The Ending (Sort of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time coming. This chapter's kind of short, because I knew I had to get it done.

“So. Do I just build a house?”

“Yes, AA.”

“What should I build it out of?”

“I don’t know. Sand?”

“You can do that!?”

Sollux scooted away from his computer, only to the other side of the room. Now that Aradia lived with him, she had insisted he use the spare room in his apartment as a computer room. This was just so they could fit a bigger bed in his own room for the two of them to share. It was nice. He liked having Aradia this close to him.

Aradia liked Minecraft enough. She was still surprised by the many wonders of it. (“Why was everything square?” “Who on Earth is Steve?” “I CAN BUILD OUT OF SAND SOLLUX THIS IS AMAZING!!!”). But she was rather talented at building houses. She still believed the game could be improved if you could do archaeology. She said that fighting monsters and only mining was stupid. Where’s the knowledge?

There were the downsides though. Like Aradia was useless with her computer. She was always carrying things covered in dirt into their house. Sometimes she brought Vriska too, now that they were friends again. It was a strange agreement. Vriska almost got her killed, Aradia beat Vriska up in a fair fight. Then they were friends again.

To Sollux, girls were weird.

They had started up a shared youtube channel, but Aradia mostly made special appearances in his videos. She had finished her goal of a video a day for a year, and now had nothing better to do. He only had her play Minecraft with him though; it seemed to be the easiest game for her. It kept her entertained until she got bored.

On the times they played on Parkour maps or any other games, they would invite their friends to their videos. Karkat’s swearing as he fell in lava was always bleeped out. Terezi’s maniacal laughter was muted sometimes. Sollux claimed it was because he had an image. Aradia knew it was because he cared about the children that watched his videos.

Outside their videos was fun too. Sollux and Aradia walked around town like a normal couple. Feferi and Vriska were sometimes spotted at the salad restaurants, and they’d wave at each other as if their lives depended on it. They’d meet up with Terezi and Karkat and have coffee and go to the movies and do things that couples generally did.

When Sollux and Aradia had been together for a year, Sollux paid for a ticket for Aradia to visit her father. She had been so excited! She screamed and hugged him tight and kissed him everywhere on his face. 

“Sollux!! Oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever. I love you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She had exclaimed, pressing her face into his neck and breathing heavily. Sollux pressed his face into her hair and smirked a little, since apparently his teeth didn’t allow smiling. Aradia was happy. That was all that matters.

She spent all afternoon making sure everything in her suitcase was perfect. She bought a little ornament to place at her sister’s grave and a little bear for her father. She claimed he was a total sweetheart, but from the skype calls, Sollux was skeptical. The man seemed harsh and scary, and when he glared at Sollux, he seemed to be judging him. 

“Now when you want to come home, just message me and I’ll book you a ticket.” He whispered into her hair as they stood outside the gate for her plane. She chuckled softly into his neck. He shivered; she was so adorable.

“It’s okay, Sollux. I’m hoping to stay with my dad for a good two weeks. It’ll be nice to see him again, it’s been almost two years!” She gave Sollux a passionate kiss, then two extra kisses for good luck. She waved to him as she boarded, yet somehow failed to notice the blush on his cheeks.

Sollux returned home and sat to await Aradia’s first skype call to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I fancy it, I might write a sequel! However, at the moment, I'm writing my next fanfic, Starlit Love, which is an EriAra fic. Also on the list are two Damara oneshots, and an Arafef fic. I don't know when I'll write those, but it will be soon! Thanks for all the kudos and the comments, it was nice to see that some people liked my writing!


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